Sharing the Destiny of Gaia
By Mary Emeny
I have long thought that the primary reason we are known for our hospitality in this part of the country is that we are all equal in the wind. In this book I gained a much deeper understanding of why.
Heaven’s Breath, by Lyall Watson is encyclopedic in scope, looking at wind from the perspective of– physics, geography, history, Biology, Sociology, Economics, physiology, psychology, and a constant backdrop of philosophy. To quote from the introduction, “with the wind Earth comes truly alive. Winds provide the circulatory and nervous systems of the planet, sharing out energy and information, distributing both warmth and awareness, making something out of nothing. ”They seem to also provide the basis for health, economics, mythology, religion, literature, poetry and even fashion.
Watson starts with the physics of wind, its geography, how we track it and then into history and how civilizations rose and fell based on changes in weather propelled by the wind. Some were caused, no doubt, by denuding the forests. It seems that there is an ideal temperature at which humans thrive, and many of the early civilizations were in that zone, about 68 degrees Fahrenheit. Clear cut forests and we now know what happens.
Migration follows. It has always been part of our history, and with migration came navigational skills. For those of us who watched Moana with our grandchildren, the section on Polynesian navigation is fascinating.
Watson writes about the biology of wind, and the fact that the only way to make sense of epidemics that jump from place to place is that they are carried by wind currents. Viruses too are migratory, as are other microorganisms. Regular sampling of air over England detected up to 120,000 fungi in each cubic meter of air! And then there is the role of wind in pollination. Since we all breathe the same air, we are all subject to these winds of change.
That leads into the technology of flight, perfected by insects and birds copied by humans.
We have learned to measure wind. It is always negligible at our feet, gaining speed as it goes up. It is this variation that makes it hard to stand in gale winds. As climates have changed so have fashions. The Minoans of Crete, (2600 BC), showed women bare breasted, men in short kilts. But then the weather changed, and by the time the Greeks settled (around 1500 BC) everyone wore a woolen robe.
This short BookByte doesn’t even touch the surface of what is contained in this remarkable book. It was written in 1984, before environmental standards were well developed, and before giant wind turbines had changed so much of the landscape and power grids around the world. But throughout, Watson keeps us aware of the interconnectedness of all life, how many different cultures express similar understanding of the wind and its role in our lives.
As he concludes, “Our lives are woven into the wonderful fabric of Gaia, and we share her destiny of becoming something greater still. And in all this we are nourished and animated by the wind, brought into being by the touch of Heaven’s Breath.”
